To go or not to go?

Over the last few days, the Nigerian media has been awash with different stories, postulations and opinions over the apparent removal of the EFCC chairman.

A lot of issues have been raised and as a Nigerian, I have become more confused.

I wonder the kind of impression a foreigner who is interested in visiting Nigeria and about the only thing he can get from our dailies are the intrigues surrounding Nuhu Ribadu's exit from the EFCC.

I do believe that nobody is a monopoly of knowledge. Everybody at one time or the other, in the private or public sector should go for refresher courses and stuffs like that that have the prospect of increasing your effectiveness on the job.

I can confidently say as a Nigerian, someone somewhere, maybe the Inspector-General of Police himself engineered the plot to remove Ribadu from office. I can say that because I know how the Nigerian factor works..

The EFCC is already becoming an institution in the mould of the FBI. However, it still lacks the capability to work effectively due to constraints in manpower and finance.

The major challenge that the proponents of the "Ribadu must stay camp" have is that the EFCC is still built solidly around him.

You'd agree with me that no brouhala would be raised if the FBI Director is relieved from his job. There are more than enough already-groomed succesors to the office.

I beg to disagree with those who have made public commentary their source of daily bread. Over the past few years, they have been there scourging for daily bread and political relevance on the pages of newspapers stifling informed opinions from seasoned journalists like Reuben Abati, Dele Omotunde, Simon Kolawaole, etc.

For the sake of posterity, if you dont have anything sensible to say, keep your mouth shut! Nobody is deluged by the stories making the rounds that the EFCC was used to hound Obasanjo's perceived enemies.

How many political opponents of Obasanjo have had their names dragged through the mud compared to people from his own camp.

It is a shame that we always fail to see people who are genuinely interested in the Nigerian dream and castigate them when they try to do what is right.

Yes, I would tell you going by my benchmarks holistically that Obasanjo failed Nigeria.

However, one shouldn't rush to throw away the baby with the bath water.

Everybody knows that corrupt practises is the order of the day in Nigeria.

It is no news that our uniformed brothers harrass their brothers in the transportation sector.

It is no big deal to deal 'brown envelopes' in the name of PR.

It is no big deal to obtain a valid drivers license without having an idea of where the nearest FRSC office is situated...

The administration of OBJ was courageous enough to create the ICPC and the EFCC as a medium to combat corruption.

Baba could have been doing business as usual but he chose not to...at one point in time, I remembered him saying that Corruption is Nigeria has eaten so deep into the system insomuch that you find therein family members, traditional rulers, even people you respect engaging in corrupt practises.

If the Police organisation was being effective, there would have been no need for the EFCC to come up in the first place.

Going back to those who are allegedly being hounded by the EFCC by being OBJ's styled enemies...

Free your mind of all sentiments and try to focus on the names of those who have been indicted or being investigated...for every one OBJ's styled enemy that you mention, I'd mention two of his friends who were also caught in the anti-corruption crusade.

Who in his right senses would say or allude to the fact that the former-IG Tafa Balogun was in OBJ's bad books? Oh..

Does the name of S.M. Afolabi rings a bell whose trial alongside a sitting minister,Akwanga, Akerele, etc by the ICPC started lending credence to the anti-corruption war?

Nobody as far as I know has told Alamieyeseigha to shut the f**k up and start blaming OBJ for his arrest and subsequent trial in Britain and in Nigeria.

I heard him 'live' when he told us during a visit to my former school, Covenant University that they(serving government officials) do not have anything new to offer in governance and that they are waiting for us to come and give them fresh ideas. In other words, all they are capable of doing is to siphon money meant for the betterment of the masses to acquire properties through fronts like Terry Waya and the likes...

If he's not corrupt, let him come out and tell us how he got to be in possession of one(1)million pounds sterling raw C.A.S.H. while his basic salary for being governor is less than 500pounds...

Finally, for all those of you who are rooting for Ribadu's removal, come up with credible and verifiable reason why he should be removed or have been removed before now...

Let us for once celebrate his achievements using the instrument of the EFCC and stop vilifying him for doing the right thing at the right time.

We all crave for public-spirited public officials(in the moulds ofAbubakar Tafawa Balewa, Festus Okotie-Eboh, Michael Okpara, etc.) in our nation but this shameful act of vilifying our heroes and celebrating them long after they are gone will discourage even the valiant of men from coming into the public sector to do what is right.